Lent Sandwich

CINCINNATI — In 1962, Lou Groen was desperate to save his floundering hamburger restaurant, the first McDonald's in the Cincinnati area.

His problem: His clientele was heavily Roman Catholic. In those days, most Catholics abstained from meat every Friday, as well as during Lent, the 40-day period of repentance that begins this week with Ash Wednesday.

His solution: He created the Filet-O-Fish — a sandwich that saved his restaurant and eventually would be consumed at a rate of 300 million a year.

"Frisch's (the local Big Boy chain) dominated the market, and they had a very good fish sandwich," recalled Groen, now 89.

Check out the rest of the article here. Ray Kroc wanted to create a Hula Burger, which was a piece of pineapple on a bun. Yuck. I do love the occasional Filet-O-Fish so now I can thank Mr. Groen and the huge population of Catholics in Cincinnati.